Fire-resisting curtain.



' EnwABnEncc oun, or COLUMBUS, .OHIO.

' FIBE-RESISTING CUETAIN.

To allvwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD H. MCCLOUD a citizen of the United States, residingat Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of 'Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Fire-Resisting Gurtains, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide means supplemental to that of the roller adapted to suspend the shutter or curtain in its lowered position, so that if the temper of the spring in the roller is weakened'or lost, or if the roller'itself should sag, the shutter or curtain may still be held in substantially its I proper protecting position.

The invention consists in the details of construction substantially as hereinafter deshutter rolled partially thereon, in connec- 7 end locks accordin scribed and particularly" pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings showing embodiments of the inventionFigure 1 is a vertical section of a roller with a piece of tion with an end bracket in which one end' of the roller is supported; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on a-larger scale of a iece'of metallic shutter of the s ecies that is made up of slate and provided with end locks to keep the slats from slipping longitudinally on each other, said view showing one of said g to my invention; Fig. 3

illustrates in horizontal section and Ian how an'end lock engages the mouth 0 the vertically and is guided as it curtain passage of an end bracket; Fig. {1 illustrates the same thing in elevation; Fig. 5 is a detail in side view illustrating the edge of a'shutter of the ln'nd referred to, containing a special end lock.

In the views 6 designates the roller, which; mayor may not'be of the spring count erbalanced kind, as may be desired.

7 designates the end' bracket, two of hts and lefts-are aflixed to the tween which the roller is horisupported to turn. The end which,-ri wall, and zonta-lly brackets are each provided with acontracted mouth 7, formed by suitable fi-xed inward projections, as at 7 and '7, through which the edge of the shutter or curtain 8, travels is wound up on and unwound from the roller.

9 designates the ordinary are secured to ,the ends of slats for the purpose before indicated. These ordinary end a point in the shutter near its to downward,

end locksywhich Patented Jan.'9,1912.

locks are of a width permitting them to pass freely through the mouth 7 of the end bracket as the shutter is raised and lowered.

10 designatesmy special end lock, which 1 has a. width greaterv than that of the ordinary end lock and so as to aflord a lug or stop, as best illustrated at 10 Figs. 1 and'2 and at 10" Figs. 3 and 4, to engage the mouth or clude it mouth of I lock is secured to the outer edges'of the slat rom passing down through the uide of the end bracket and prethe end bracket. The special end 1n the same manner as the'ordina'ry end lock,

that is to say, it has a shank 10 by which it may be riveted to the end of the slat. A special end lock is secured to the opposite ends-of the same slat in the shutter and .at and. in the path of the projecting guides and 7 so that the shutter will be supported by said enlarged end looks when the shutteris lowered to window or door closing position, and especially should there be a subsequent slight ging of the shutter when subjected. to the' ening heat of fire. The special end locks, it will be observed, are in the nature of projections from the in a variety of forms. I have shown two forms, which. are best. depicted in Figs. 2 and 4. In Fig. 2 the. right hand or inner side of the speciallock is shown as sharp pointed, as seen at 10, and in Fig. 4 the corresponding side of the special lock is shown as blunt. In either case the enlargement precludes the further passage of the shutter as bestsuggested by Fig. 4. In the form shown by the s ecial locks .to become wedged in the mout is lessened, The special end locks, herein so called,

may or may not, as desired, subserv the.

function of preventing. longitudinal slipping of the slats on'each other. In order to avoid an offset, in the coil by .reason of the rojection of the special end lock, the lengt of theroller on which the shutter or curtain is wrapped can bQ I ImdG- shorter than the slats, thus permitting the special end lock to overlap the end of the roller and project in toward the center line of the roller.

What I claim ters Patent is: 1. In a fire resisting curtain, the combinaand desire to secure by Letedge ofthe shutter, and they may be made I this ,view the liability of i tion with end brackets, therein, and a vertically movable shutter mounted upon said roller, of rigid inward projections on said brackets embracing the edges of said shutter and serving to guide said shutter in its movements, and enlargements on the edges of said shutter arranged in the path of said rigid inward projections and normally carried by the shutter in line with said projections and adapted to engage said projections to support the shutter when in its lowered or closed position.

2. In a fire'resisting curtain, the combination with end brackets, a roller mounted therein, and a vertically movable slatted shutter mounted upon said roller. and provided with endlocks upon its opposite vertical edges, of rigid inward projections on said brackets embracing and guiding the edges of saidshu'tter and permitting the free passage of the end locks therebetween, one of said end locks upon "each edge of the shutter being of greater width than the others and arranged upon the opposite ends of the same slat, and in the path of said inward projections and adapted to engage a roller mounted each edge of said projections to support the shutter in its,

lowered or closed position.

3. In a fire resisting shutter, the combination with end brackets, a roller mounted therein, and a vertically movable slatted shutter of slightly greater width than the length of the roller and provided with end locks upon its vertical edges, of rigid inward projections on said brackets embracing and guiding the edges of said shutter and permittingpthe free passage of the end locks therebetween, one of said end locks upon the shutter being of greater width than the others and arranged upon the opposite ends of the same slat and, in the path of said inward projections, and adapted to engage said projections to support the shutter in its lowered or closed position, the said end locks of greater widt adapted to overlap the ends of the roller when the vshutter is rolled thereon.

EDWARD MoCLOUD.

Witnesses:

ROBERT H. COCHRAN, ANNA TERESA KING. 

